The
obscure lad was beginning to assert himself.
To the end of his days, Roberts held a warm regard for Eton. Once when
at the end of a great campaign, he was presented with a sword of honor,
on this boyhood's drill ground, he said to a younger generation then
assembled: "To you boys who intend to enter the army, the studies and
sports of this place are your best training. England's greatest general,
himself an Etonian, is reported to have said that the battle of Waterloo
was won in the Eton playing-fields. In thus expressing himself, the Duke
(Wellington) meant that bodily vigor, power of endurance, courage, and
rapidity of decision are produced by the manly games which are fostered
here."
Undoubtedly there was a personal touch to these remarks, as Roberts
recalled how he himself had begun to gain these sterling qualities on the
cricket field and gridiron.
When fifteen, he entered the Military College at Sandhurst, but remained
there only two terms. By nature he was a studious chap, doing especially
well in German and mathematics. So easily did he solve problems in
algebra and geometry, that his mates promptly nicknamed him "Deductions."
Leaving Sandhurst, he put in a few months at a preparatory military
school at Wimbledon, but his father's return to England, in 1849, marked
the first definite step in his plans.
Pages:
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144